“Yue!” Hajime ignored Miledi’s words and shouted out to Yue. Yue jumped up and fired another spell.
“Freeze— Crystal Coffin!” She chanted the name of a spell meant to encase its target in a tomb of ice, but it was an advanced level water spell. In this labyrinth, Yue shouldn’t have been able to use anything stronger than an intermediate spell. However, in order to restrain Miledi, they needed it.
The part of Miledi’s back that was resting on the floating blocks froze, keeping her stuck to the platform.
“Wha—!? How can you use advanced level spells!?” Miledi shouted out in surprise. The reason Yue had been able to use the spell was simple. Like with Rupture, if she used water that was already present, then the amount of mana required to cast the spell went down. Yue had coated the block Miledi had landed on with water ahead of time. And when Miledi had shown an opening, Yue had doused her back with water as well. That was what her initial Rupture had been for.
Even then, it had taken up a huge amount, and Yue had depleted all of her accessories’ stored mana to cast it. Panting, Yue retreated to a platform further away.
“Nice job, Yue!” Hajime stood on top of Miledi’s chest and pulled his trump card out of his Treasure Trove. The object he pulled out was a two and a half meter long cannon. The outside was covered in all manner of odd knobs and switches, while the inside was loaded with a twenty centimeter wide jet black spike. There were four sturdy stands attached to the lower part of the cannon, while the middle part connected to his prosthetic arm, allowing him to operate it.
Hajime used the arms to hold it in place over Miledi, who couldn’t move, and fired two anchors for good measure. All told, there were six stands firmly holding the cannon in place. Then, Hajime started pouring mana into it. Red sparks started flying off the cannon, and the jet black spike inside it started to rotate.
Whiiiiiiiir! The spinning spike let out a high pitched whirring noise. Hajime’s smile was so ghastly that had Miledi not been a golem, she surely would have stiffened in fear.
This was one of the auxiliary weapons for his left arm, a pile bunker. With his compression synthesis, he had managed to fit a four-ton mass into a spike twenty centimeters wide and one meter long. The entire thing was coated in a thick layer of Azantium, making it the densest, hardest object on the planet. He ignited the massive amount of compressed blastrock inside the pile bunker and accelerated it with Lightning Field for good measure.
“Eat this.” He drove the spike straight through Miledi’s heart, as if he were staking a vampire.
With a resounding crash, his pile bunker pierced through Miledi’s Azantium armor. Cracks spread around the point of impact, the damage spreading throughout the plating. The platform Miledi was stuck to had nearly shattered, the force of the impact pushed it down a good distance, and the friction of the spinning pile bunker created enough heat to make plumes of smoke rise from her chest.
...However, the light in Miledi’s eyes was still burning bright.
“Ha...haha. Looks like even that wasn’t enough. But well, props to you guys. You pierced through a good three-fourths of my armor, you know?” Her voice was shaky, but she tried to feign confidence. Internally, she was panicking. The pile bunker she’d just experienced had been one not fully accelerated by Hajime’s max power Lightning Field. That was the only reason it hadn’t penetrated all the way to her core. And yet, despair still didn’t color Hajime’s eyes. It was almost as if he’d expected it to not be enough.
“Now, Shea! Finish it!” Hajime put everything but the spike back into his Treasure Trove and leaped out of the way.
From above came Shea, falling from a great height. Her rabbit ears were flopping in the wind as she held Drucken high over her head.
“Wha—!?” Miledi instantly guessed what was about to happen. There was real panic in her eyes now, and she desperately tried to break free. Realizing that wouldn’t work, she tried to move the platform she was stuck to instead, but she quickly realized it was too late. At the last moment she stopped struggling, accepting her inevitable fate.
Shea fired off multiple shotgun blasts to accelerate her even further, then slammed down her war hammer with all the power of gravity behind it.
With a thunderous roar, the spike sank deeper into Miledi. But even then, it didn’t pierce all the way through. Shea squeezed Drucken’s trigger relentlessly, blowing all of her ammunition.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Shea’s scream echoed across the room. She poured every last ounce of her strength into her war hammer. Every. Last. Ounce.
The platform fell even further from the force of her blow. It crashed into the floor below at breakneck speed. Finally, the spike pierced through Miledi’s last layer of Azantium armor. There was a satisfying crack as her core broke.
The moment the platform hit the ground, Shea somersaulted over Drucken and leaped into the air. Then, with her body strengthening focused on her legs, she kicked Drucken’s handle, making doubly sure that Miledi was done for.
The spike drove even further into Miledi’s chest, breaking the core apart, shattering it completely.
The light faded from Miledi’s eyes. Shea let out a sigh of relief, then let the tension drain from her body.
She heard two objects land behind her and turned around. As she expected, it was Hajime and Yue. Shea broke out into an ecstatic grin and gave them a thumbs-up. Both of them smiled back and returned her gesture.
They were certain of it now. They’d cleared the final trial Reisen’s labyrinth had to offer.
“Nice one, Shea. That last smash of yours was perfect. I might even respect you a little now.”
“...Yeah, you did good.” Dust as thick as smoke swirled about them as they talked.
A spiderweb of cracks radiated out from the crater that had formed when the Miledi Golem had crashed into the ground. Shea was exhausted enough that she had to lean on Drucken just to stay on her feet.
She would have gladly just slumped to the ground, but she wanted to look cool in front of Hajime and Yue. And as a reward for her efforts, the two of them gave her looks of admiration.
“Ehehe, thanks guys. But Hajime-san, shouldn’t you be saying you might have fallen in love with me a little instead?”
“Not happening. Not even a little.” Though his words seemed curt, his expression was nowhere near as stern as it usually was when it came to Shea’s pathetic jokes. In fact, he was even willing to admit to himself that Shea might have just looked a little sexy when pounding the finishing blow into Miledi.
The fact that she’d been able to fight so well despite never even holding a weapon until a few weeks ago was because of how strongly she’d wanted to stand on the same stage as Hajime and Yue. It was that strong determination, combined with Shea’s own latent abilities, that had allowed her to overcome the trials of one of the Seven Great Labyrinths and deal the finishing blow to its guardian.
In truth, Hajime hadn’t necessarily needed Shea’s help to finish off Miledi. He had expected the pile bunker would fall short, so he had a backup plan for powering it all the way in. But he’d seen how such a gentle and peace loving bunny girl had resolutely stood by his side through all of their trials. Despite having no combat skill to speak of until just recently she had never once cried that she wanted to go back, and despite all of her fear and uncertainty she’d pushed valiantly forward. That was why he’d decided to entrust the final blow to her. A choice he was glad he’d made now.
That last strike of hers had actually been cool enough that Hajime would have fallen for her under normal circumstances. The depth of her feelings had been conveyed to him together with the shockwaves generated by her attack. However, Hajime still couldn’t give her the kind of affection she sought. Still, the strength of her determination and guts had moved him. As a result, he definitely looked at her with kinder eyes than he used to.
“Fweh? I-Is it just me... or are you actually bei
ng nice to me for once, Hajime-san...? I-Is this a dream?”
“Now look here... Err, actually, I guess it makes sense that you’d think that considering how I’ve been treating you...”
Shea pinched her cheeks to make sure she really wasn’t dreaming. Hajime wanted to protest, but he realized that he really didn’t have any right to say anything.
Yue walked up to Shea, who was still busy pinching her cheeks. She grabbed Shea’s arm, pulled her down into a crouch, and gently patted her head. Then, she started to straighten out Shea’s disheveled hair.
“U-Umm, Yue-san?”
“It’s a shame we can’t get Hajime to pat your head. You’ll just have to make do with me for now.”
“Y-Yue-saaaan. Huh? Why am I crying? Fweeeeeeeh.”
“...There there.”
Shea waffled about in confusion for a moment, but burst into tears and hugged Yue tight when she realized she was being praised. Taking on one of the Seven Great Labyrinths for her first trip outside the forest must have been pretty tough. Only the resolve to stay together with Yue and Hajime had kept her going. Finally being accepted as someone capable of fighting together with them after overcoming such a difficult trial was more than enough to move her to tears.
As an aside, even Yue’s comment didn’t persuade Hajime to pat her head. Since Shea was the kind of girl that got carried away easily, Hajime didn’t want to give her the wrong idea by being too nice to her. Dealing with her misunderstandings was too much of a hassle for him. With all that they’d been through, Shea was definitely a member of his family. Still, the kind of love Hajime felt for Yue wasn’t something that he could really share between multiple people. After all, that was what having a “special someone” meant. Besides, Hajime couldn’t imagine ever doing anything that would make Yue sad.
And most of all, when he saw Shea crying tears of happiness and relief into Yue’s bosom while Yue gently patted her head... Well, he could guess where things were probably headed.
Hajime watched on with a strange expression on his face. Suddenly, a voice called out to the three of them.
“Ummm... Sorry to interrupt your little party, but things aren’t looking so hot for me, so I’d like to get this out of the way before it’s too late.” They knew that voice. The three of them all turned back in surprise. The light from Miledi’s eyes, which had gone out moments ago, had returned. Instantly, they all jumped back. They all eyed Miledi warily, as they were certain they’d destroyed her core.
“Hey, hey, no need to be so tense. You did it! You won! I’m just using what little power’s left in my core to talk to you guys for a bit! I’ll be gone for good in a few minutes.” The fact that the light in her eyes was flickering and fainter than before, combined with the fact that she didn’t move, seemed to support her statement. She was on the verge of disappearing for good. Really does look like she’s gonna die in a few minutes...
Relaxing slightly, Hajime cautiously responded to her.
“So? What’d you want to talk to us about, you half-dead golem? Seeing as you’re about to die and still can’t read the mood... I guess I’ll posthumously award you the title of most insensitive Liberator.”
“Heeey, there’s no need to be so mean. I was just starting to like you, too.”
“Whatever. Anyway, I thought I told you I have no interest in fighting your world’s shitty gods.” It almost felt like Miledi sighed before she responded.
“Don’t worry, that’s not what I wanted to talk about. There’s no need to. I’m just... here to give you a piece of advice. Even if the spell you’re looking for isn’t in the labyrinths you explore, you’ll need to acquire all of the ancient magic the Liberators left behind... in order to achieve your goal...” It certainly did seem like Miledi was on the verge of disappearing. Her voice was growing fainter and there were long pauses between sentences. Unconcerned, Hajime continued pressing her for answers.
“All of it, huh... Well, why don’t you tell us where all the other labyrinths are, then. The records have been lost and no one knows where most of them are anymore.”
“Ah, I see... So it’s already been so long... that people have forgotten where the labyrinths are... Okay, well... they’re...” Miledi’s voice grew weaker and weaker. It looked like she was reminiscing about the past. Yue and Shea looked down at her silently. They respected her determination. For the sake of her goal, for the sake of her dream, she’d abandoned human form and transferred her spirit into this inanimate object.
Miledi mumbled out the location of the remaining Great Labyrinths. Among them was one that came as a surprise to everyone.
“That’s all of them... Good luck.”
“You sure are acting nice now. What happened to all the harassment and traps you sprang on us?” Like Hajime had said, the annoying cutesy speech and insulting tone was nowhere to be found. Instead, she was speaking with sincerity he could hardly believe from her. She had shown hints of this personality before their fight, so Hajime was beginning to suspect this really was her true nature. And now that she was moments from death, she had no need to keep up the facade.
“Ahaha, sorry about that, really. But you know... those fucking bastards... are real scum... They do these kinds of underhanded annoying things all the time... So I just... wanted to help you get used to it before...”
“Hey... How many times do I have to say it? I have no interest in fighting your mad gods. Quit assuming I will.”
The reply that came back had such a level of earnest tone to it that Hajime couldn’t doubt her words.
“You will. As long as you stay the same... you’ll... definitely kill them.”
“...I don’t get what you’re trying to say. I mean, sure, I guess I’ll blow them to kingdom come if they get in my way, but...” Hajime replied hesitatingly. Miledi only laughed cryptically in reply.
“Fufu... That’s fine... live your life however you wish... I know... your choices... will definitely... help this world...” Glowing blue light enveloped the Miledi Golem. It flickered faintly, like the pale light of a firefly as it floated up to heaven like a soul finally being freed. It was a wondrous, mystical sight.
Yue suddenly walked up to Miledi. There was almost no light left in her eyes.
“What is it?” Miledi’s voice was barely a whisper. Yue replied in the same hushed whisper, giving her last parting words to the great Liberator.
“...You did well. You can rest now.”
“......”
Words of praise. It was all one of the living could give to her, an almost legendary hero that had waited all alone in the darkness for centuries, never giving up hope that her dream would one day be realized. It might have been odd hearing those words from someone far younger than her. Still, Yue could think of nothing else to say.
Miledi hadn’t been expecting that either. She just stared in surprise for a while. Finally, she spoke. Her muttered words were far gentler than anything they’d heard her say thus far.
“...Thank you.”
“Mhmm.”
Just get on with it already! Behind them, Hajime was nearing the end of his patience. The way Miledi had sounded so sure about what he was going to do had pissed him off. And yet, Shea pinned his arms behind his back and covered his mouth with her hand before he could do anything.
“Who’s the one who can’t read the mood now, huh!? Just stay quiet until they’re done!” Shea whispered furiously into his ear. Fortunately, neither Yue nor Miledi noticed them, so the solemn atmosphere between the two of them remained.
“Now then... it’s finally time... I pray that... the blessings of the gods... never reach you...”
Hold on, those were the same words Oscar told us back in his house... With that parting remark, Miledi Reisen, one of this world’s Liberators, vanished. Entranced, Yue and Shea watched as the light of her soul rose up to the sky.
“...At first I thought she was just a rotten, twisted little woman, but she really gave it her all, didn’t she?”
Their words were somber. However, one member of their party didn’t seem to care about Miledi’s passing at all, and hurried the two of them up.
“Alright, done yet? Let’s get out of here. Also, I know for a fact that that annoying part of her personality wasn’t faked. There’s no actor that good, she had to have been a bitch from the start.”
“Come on, Hajime-san. There’s no need to speak ill of the dead. That’s just cruel. See, I knew you were the one who was worst at reading the mood.”
“...Hajime, are you dense?”
“Not you too, Yue... Bah, whatever. Also, it’s not that I can’t read the mood, I’m just choosing not to.”
In the midst of their conversation, they noticed a section of the wall had begun to glow. Cutting their discussion short, they started heading toward it. It was relatively high up, so they’d have to hop across a few floating blocks to reach it. But the moment they jumped onto the first one, it started moving and took them right to it.
“.....”
“Wawawa, it just started moving on its own. Well, at least it saved us some trouble.”
“Is this a reward for winning?” Shea yelled out in surprise, while Yue tilted her head. Only Hajime looked unhappy. After ten seconds of travel, it stopped about five meters before the glowing part of the wall. At the same time, the light began to fade and the part of the wall that had been glowing fell away. Behind it was a passageway made of polished white stone that shone with a brilliant radiance.
The floating block they were standing on began taking them through the passage. I guess this is what’s going to take us to Miledi’s house? A short while later, they found themselves staring at a wall engraved with the seven Liberators’ crests. It was the same wall that had led to Oscar’s house in his labyrinth. As they approached, the wall slid to the side. The block didn’t slow at all and took them through that opening as well. On the other side, they found...
“Hey there! Not-so-long time no see! It’s me, Miledi-chan!” A miniature version of the Miledi Golem.
Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Vol. 2 Page 27
